Xie Cheng's Book of the Later Han Dynasty said that "the merits of crossing the toes of seven counties are all due to rising seas".
Yang Fu's Records of Foreign Things in the Eastern Han Dynasty recorded: "When the sea rises, the water is shallow and there are many magnets. Foreigners in big ships are blocked by iron. At this point, they can't pass the magnet. " Wu Wanzhen's "Foreign Things in Zhou Nan" in the Three Kingdoms said: "In the three eastern provinces, the battery head came out of the sea and there were many magnets in the middle."
Song Liyun and others wrote The View of Taiping Royal Family, quoting Fu Nan Biography by Wu Kangtai of Three Kingdoms: "Ascend to the sea and reach coral island".
The name "Shenghai" continued until the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the name "Nanhai" began to be used in Liang Shujuan's Biography of Hainan: "Dry land is on the South China Sea continent" (the ancient name of dry land is now Sumatra Island), and the name "Nanhai" became more and more in the Tang and Song Dynasties. Shen Quanqi, a poet in exile in Vietnam in the early Tang Dynasty, had a body.
The above quotation shows that as early as 1500 years ago, our people knew about the South China Sea and its islands, and called it "the rising ocean" and "the South China Sea". The islands in the South China Sea are generally called "rising sea head" and "coral island"; The word "magnet" refers to reefs and shoals, which means that there are many reefs and shoals in the South China Sea, and it is difficult for ships to run aground, just like being attracted by magnets.
Explaining the meaning of "ascending the sea", Qiongzhou County Records said: "Those who go south are also in Tianchi, and the earth is extremely embarrassing, so it is called Yanhai; The water overflowed, so it rose to the sea. " Qu Dajun, a beginner in the Qing Dynasty, has a similar explanation in Cantonese Newspeak: "The sea is flooded, so it is called' rising the sea'." It reflects the ancient China people's understanding of tidal phenomena in the South China Sea.
In ancient times, the South China Sea was not only called "Ascending to the Sea", "South China Sea" and "Yanhai", but also called "Zhu Yahai" (Notes on Shan Hai Jing by Park Shi of Jin State: "(From Er State) is in Zhu Yahai); Tang Lishan also commented on Jin's Five Degrees of Fu: "There are Zhu in the Sea"), Zhouyang and Qionghai (Yazhou Zhi): "Zhou Dong is connected with Zhouyang, with stone ponds thousands of miles away and Changsha miles away, which is the most dangerous place", and so is Qiongzhou County Zhi. Records of Qiongzhou: "Then the sea of Qiongzhou rises").
In addition to the above-mentioned "rising sea head" and "coral island", the islands in the South China Sea are also called "the state of drinking wood" (Tang Lishan's comment on the word "drinking wood" in Wu Du Fu was quoted earlier: "There are pearls in the sea, five hundred miles from east to west, and thousands of miles from north to south, and there are no springs, so you can drink them in jars." Youyang Miscellaneous Notes in the Tang Dynasty: "Zhou, Zhou, a land without springs, people don't dig wells, they all use tree juice").
Among them, Kang Tai's Biography of Fu Nan records that "when the seawater rises to coral island, there are rocks on the bottom of the island and corals grow on it", which is the earliest scientific explanation of the causes of coral reefs in the South China Sea Islands in the world.
With the development of production and the progress of navigation, the place names of the South China Sea Islands have gradually gone from general names to group names.
Wu Yao, the editor-in-chief of the Northern Song Dynasty, contains Julian Waghann's Embankment to Jiuruluo City (Prefecture) (the Xisha Islands, mainly referring to Yongle Islands). This is not only the first time that the names of the islands have appeared, but also the first time that the Xisha Islands have been named.
Meng Lianglu written by Zi Mu in the Song and Wu Dynasties and many later classics all refer to the Xisha Islands as "seven continents" and its sea area as "seven continents and oceans" (mainly referring to Xuande Islands).
According to the article "Occupy the City" in the Song Dynasty, the people who occupied the city came to China in the second year of Song Tianxi (1078), "or the wind drifted to Shitang, and they were tired but not old"; Also known as "the country is rich in reason", it started from its country, came to China, passed through Persia, Zhenla, Binda Coconut, Zhancheng, and then passed through the South China Sea: "Ten days across the ocean, there is a shitang in the southeast, named Wan Li".
The name "Wan Lishi Hall" appeared for the first time, and it was pointed out that it was located in the southeast of Zhancheng (central Vietnam), which was the beginning of the naming of Nansha Islands.
In the Southern Song Dynasty, it arrived in the next week, and it was recorded in "A Generation Outside the Ridge". There is "Wanli Changsha Shitang" in the South China Sea.
"Changsha" and "Shitang" refer to Xisha and Nansha Islands respectively for the first time, that is, "Changsha" is dominated by sand islands and "Shitang" is dominated by atolls.
The preface to Records of Qiongguan in Yi Taichu of the Southern Song Dynasty says, "Changsha is thousands of miles east, and Shitang is thousands of miles east".
In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhufanzhi, Ji Sheng of the Jade Emperor and Ji Sheng of Yu Fang all called Xisha Islands and Nansha Islands "a thousand miles of Changsha, a thousand miles of stone ponds (beds)" respectively.
From the place names of the South China Sea Islands recorded in Han, Jin and Song Dynasties, it can be found that the place names are relatively stable from concept generalization to island naming. Almost all Xisha Islands use "Qianli Changsha", and Nansha Islands always use "Qianli Shitang (bed)"; Place names are more scientific. As mentioned earlier, "Changsha" and "Shitang" refer to geographical entities with sand islands and atolls respectively.
Wang Anqing, a fisherman from Hainan, said that the South Xisha is more than six times larger, so it is also objective to name it "Qianli Changsha" and "Qianli Shitang" respectively.
The names of the South China Sea Islands changed greatly in the Yuan Dynasty, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Wang Yuan Dayuan's "A Brief Introduction to Yidao" states: "The bone of Shitang was born in Chaozhou, like a long snake, crossing the sea and crossing the sea. Common clouds are like stone ponds, not only in Wan Li. " "The original vein can be visually tested, from Java to Bonai (Brunei). The' Wanli Shitang' here refers to the South China Sea Islands, but it is not the original intention. " It is like a long snake, crossing the sea ",connecting the four major islands, and it is also" the bone of Shitang "and" born in Chaozhou ". It is the original intention to integrate the South China Sea Islands with the mainland.
On 1430, Mao Ming Yuan Yi Wubeizhi reprinted Zheng He's nautical chart, in which Shixing Shitang was drawn in the east, Shitang Island was drawn in the west, and Wansheng Shitang Island was drawn in the south between them, with an area larger than Shitang.
According to the positional relationship between them and the shapes of the symbols used, "Shixing Shitang" should refer to zhongsha islands (editor's note: Shixing Shitang refers to zhongsha islands, but it may also include dongsha islands from the distribution range of its dotted symbols), "Shitang" refers to Xisha Islands, and "Wansheng Shitang Island" (editor's note: it should be "Wanli Shitang Island") refers to Nansha Islands.
Therefore, Zheng He's nautical chart has clearly divided the South China Sea Islands into three archipelagos.
Ming Gu Shanjie's "The Legacy of Haicha" says: "A thousand miles of stone ponds are 700 miles away from the sea surface of Yazhou, ... Wanli Longtan is in the south." The linear distance from the old governance Yacheng in Yaxian County to Yongxing Island in Xisha is about 760 Li, which is the same as Panshiyu Island. Therefore, "Li Qian Shitang" should refer to the islands and reefs of Xisha Islands, and "Wanlilongtan" should refer to Nansha Islands.
Wanli Shitang is said to be a long dike in Wan Li, which has the same meaning as "pond" and "dike", so it is natural to put it another way.
According to Lin's textual research, in Gu Shanjie's later works in Ming Dynasty, Dongsha, Zhongsha and Xisha were called "Shitang" and Nansha was called "Changsha".
In Qing Dynasty, Guangdong Tongzhi, Qiongzhou County Zhi and Wanzhou Zhi all recorded that "Changsha Sea and Shitang Sea are located in the east of Wanzhou", and Changsha Sea and Shitang Sea refer to the sea areas where Xisha and Nansha are located respectively.
Jueren's Directional Map of Southwest Ocean Needle and Waterway Map of East China Sea and South China Sea all refer to Dongsha, Changsha to Xisha and Shitang to Shitang.
Chen Lunjiong's "News of the Sea" contains: "South Australia lives in the southeast of South Australia together", "It fell to the ground in ancient times", "It hung in the sea together, and continued to the sand to the south, reaching Changsha Head in Guangdong.
Separated by an ocean in the south, it starts from Fuxing Shayin in the south and reaches Wanzhou in Qionghai, which is called Wanli Changsha. In the south of the sand, there are stone buildings and ancient stones, which are called Li Qian Shitang.
The "Nan 'aoqi" here used to be "Luokuang", but now it is "Dongsha".
Four place names, Qishatou, Changsha, Qizhouyang and Shitang, are marked in the Outline of the Four Seas attached to the Records of the Sea, in which Qishatou refers to dongsha islands, Changsha refers to zhongsha islands, Qizhouyang refers to Xisha Islands and Shitang refers to Nansha Islands.
The concept that the South China Sea Islands are divided into four archipelagos has taken shape.
According to Hai Lu of Qing metabolism, there are two routes from Guangdong to Java Island, among which the "Waigou" route starts from the east side of Xisha. "After leaving Wanshan, it goes south with Xiaoxi, and it crosses the red shore in about four or five days. There is Satan's horn in the water, which is extremely shallow and stops at a depth of four feet and five feet. "To Dipen Mountain, it joins the inner canal, and Wanli Changsha is in the west."
Judging from the information such as location, itinerary and water regime, "red hair is shallow" refers to the whole of zhongsha islands, and "Sartin" refers to the shoal.
Wang Wentai also called zhongsha islands "shallow red hair" in "A Study on the Red Hair Fankou Yingkou Jikou".
"Land, sea and air" also carried a ship starting from truffles, "going west for five or six days and passing through Dongsha", and "Dongsha is also floating in the sea and in Wanshan, so it is called Dongsha".
Here, the meaning of the name of dongsha islands, the location and origin of the entity are clearly described, which provides an example for the naming of the four major islands in the future.
In Zheng Guangzu 1842 "Awakening the World", dongsha islands, Dongsha zhongsha islands, Xisha Xisha and Shitang Nansha Islands are marked in the general map of aliens in China.
1887 Xu Jiagan's "A Brief Introduction to Foreign Defense" contains Guangdong Sea Road, Wanli Changsha "From Wanzhou to Nan 'ao" and Li Qian Shitang "From Wanzhou to Qizhouyang".
The "Wanli Changsha" here seems to refer to Dongsha, Zhongsha and Xisha Islands.
"Thousand-mile stone pond" refers to Nansha Islands.
1909 In May, Governor Zhang of Guangdong and Guangxi sent Governor Zhang of Guangdong Navy to lead 170 officers and men to patrol Xisha in three warships, and surveyed 15 islands and named them one by one.
Three island names are still in use, namely Ganquan Island, Coral Island and Chenhang Island.
1935, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Navy and the Ministry of Education of China sent people to form a land and water map review committee, and announced the names of the Nanhai 132 islands in China for the first time.
At that time, these islands were named Dongsha Island (now dongsha islands), Xisha Islands, Nansha Islands (now zhongsha islands) and Tuansha Islands (now Nansha Islands).
In May of the same year, Guangdong * * * instructed the Construction Department to authorize the contractor to set up an office in Dongsha Island for management, and the document "Jian ZiNo. 1703" clearly renamed Dongsha Island as dongsha islands.
1947 12 1, announced by the Ministry of Interior of China 172 names of South China Sea islands.
The names of the group include South China Sea Islands (the general name of the four major islands), dongsha islands, Xisha Islands, zhongsha islands (called Nansha Islands in 1935) and Nansha Islands (called Tuansha Islands in 1935). And large groups are divided into many levels of small groups.
On April 24th, 1983, China Geographical Names Committee was authorized to publish "Some Standard Geographical Names of South China Sea Islands" with 287 names.
Compared with 1947, the place names have increased by 1 15, among which the place names in dongsha islands have increased from 4 (1947) to 7, Xisha Islands from 33 to 52, zhongsha islands from 30 to 34, and Nansha Islands from 97 to/kloc-.
This naming, in addition to naming islands, sandbars, reefs, shoals and reefs, is the first time to officially name a "waterway" (fishermen call it "gate").
Many fishermen who went to Xisha and Nansha Islands for fishing in Wenchang and Qionghai counties in Hainan and their descendants kept the Genglu Book, which recorded the navigable waterways of Xisha and Nansha Islands clearly.
The names of the South China Sea Islands recorded in Genglu Bu were named after the islands and reefs by Hainan fishermen, which is one of the ancient names that can best reflect the characteristics of China.